How HopStop Avoided Getting Crushed By Google Maps

Dave
Smith Dave Smith is deputy editor for Business
Insider, running the tech section. His work has been
published in Tech Insider, Newsweek, ABC News, USA TODAY,
Forbes, ReadWrite, Inc. Magazine, The International
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As we process applications for the 2011 Inc. 500|5000, we
thought it would be worthwhile to shine a spotlight on some of
the companies that are vying to appear on our ranking of the
fastest-growing private companies in the United States.

When Nigerian-born entrepreneur Chinedu Echeruo
first moved to New York City in 1995, the Harvard Business
School grad was quickly introduced to a problem already
familiar to the millions of other city dwellers.

Carless, Echeruo was forced to rely on alternative forms of
transportation. At the time however, there was no MapQuest-type service
that gave directions linking public transportation such as buses,
trains, and subways.

An opportunistic entrepreneur, Echeruo realized the market for
such a service and launched HopStop in 2005, a
door-to-door directions platform that stitches together data from
various transit agency sites, providing one cohesive navigational
experience.

"The majority of our users are usually active and on-the-go,
going to events, restaurants, social events, ball games, clubs,
bars, restaurants, points of interest and tourist attractions,"
says Joe Meyer, CEO of HopStop.
"They need to know how to get there—or get from there."

HopStop has been a hit among the metropolitan markets—especially
in New York, where it all began.

By providing thorough, customized directions to get from Point A
to Point B, HopStop's popularity has soared in recent years,
resulting in doubled revenue in each of the last three years, as
well as profitability and positive cash flow.

Despite being in existence all of six years, the company is a
clear leader in the transit routing space.

"Under the hood, we're a data company," Meyer says. "We ingest
data from over 35 different transit agencies throughout the New
York tri-state area alone; not just the MTA. If you're going from Manhattan to Hartford, or from Montauk to Greenwich, there's probably 20
different ways you could take that trip using transit and
pedestrian means, but the only way to present those different
options is if you have access to all of the agencies."

Each chunk of directions is broken down contextually, providing
landmarks and the expected duration time for each leg of the
trip. However, should a user wish to diverge from the recommended
route, users can easily modify any step of the journey.

HopStop accomplishes this multi-modal utility by aggregating
massive amounts of data from several hundred transit agencies,
including street-level mapping data from location-based service
provider NAVTEQ. After compiling the data, HopStop converts
address inputs to XY plots on a map. Depending on the user's
preferred mode(s) of transportation, HopStop routes the user from
XY to XY, plotting points on a map to form a route.

"We do a ton of internal testing before we release anything,"
Meyer says. "But the users banging away at it—in real-time, en
masse—is the best way to test anything."

Users drive the HopStop experience by both using it and
suggesting ways to improve it. Any messages, issues, or
suggestions sent will usually receive a response within 24 hours.

"Any time we release a new feature, a new function, an
enhancement, a new market, a new mode of transportation, or put a
new transit agency into the system, the ultimate test is
releasing it to millions of users," Meyer says. "The users are
very vocal, and without them, we'd be somewhat flying blind, to
tell you the truth."

Most user feedback leads to constant tweaks and dialturns to the
platform, but other feedback results in completely new product
innovations. For example, HopStop's latest feature, routes and
directions for bike riders, was originally a customer request.

"If enough users are requesting it, that means thousands upon
thousands of other users who aren't emailing us or telling us on
Twitter probably want it
too," Meyer says. "We have a fairly large presence on Facebook and Twitter and Yelp, and other platforms that give us real-time
feedback from users. We read all of those points of feedback and
we take action on most of them. We really are feedback-centric."

Despite its micro-staff of 15 employees, HopStop serves over 50
different market regions around the world. In the coming weeks
and months, HopStop will redesign its site and open in more world
markets. With the rising popularity of its mobile apps
and its several other plans for expansion, HopStop is poised to
dominate the transit routing market, if it hasn't done so
already.

"We have more modes of transportation than Google Maps, which we think is key," Meyer says.
"Our viewpoint is that depending on the trip and the route,
sometimes one mode of transportation is really preferred over
another. You really have to offer the user as many options as
possible."